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![“Some believe it’s anything you
can learn from…
[vs.]
Others believe it’s a scaled down
product that works just enough to
get customers to pay.”*
Key: Validated learning and
rapid experimentation are
fundamental common
denominators.
* Jaime Levy, author of UX Strategy, in conversation. See: www.jaimelevy.com
“The term has become bastardized. MVP has two definitions these days…”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/eswensonnisomvp21may2020final1-200620203620/85/Defining-a-Minimum-Viable-Product-MVP-9-320.jpg)
Uploaded byEric Swenson
Defining a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
The document outlines a training series on defining a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) within the context of agile project management, emphasizing the importance of validated learning and rapid experimentation. It discusses various MVP examples, methods for building and testing hypotheses, and the distinction between MVPs and prototypes. The goal is to help teams adapt lean principles to traditional environments and continuously evolve their business models by understanding customer needs.
Defining a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- 1. Defining a Minimum Viable Product NISO TrainingSeries: Agile Product and Project Management for Information Products and Services Thursday, May 21, 2020 Eric Swenson Swensonia Consulting | New York e.Swenson@Swensonia.com | @eswensonia https://www.linkedin.com/in/swensonia/
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- 3. Agenda Objective Recap MVP Demystified Build, Measure,Learn Execution and analysis Demystify the MVP Better understanding of how to adapt lean & MVP principles to traditional environments Inspire experimentation Establish common lexicon
- 4. Recap: Last week: Agile Teams Impact+ Adapt Kaizen = Improvement Continuous Improvement Adaptive teams Interdisciplinary team Leading vs. managing Agile + Lean = true love
- 5. I. MVP Demystified • LiquidLexicon and the Semantic Traps • What an MVP is • What an MVP is
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- 7. Liquid Lexicon and the Semantic Traps Agile≠ Lean à Agile || Lean They’re complementary. Customer || User || Buyer || Patron The entity you serve whose attention, time, approval or money dictates the success of your endeavor. Product || Service || Your Business A service is your product; your product might be a service.… product-market Fit experiment pivot OKR KPI iterate LOAF UVP lean prototype test hypothesis startup? product management
- 8. Minimum Viable Product The smallest amountof work you can do to test your idea on real customers.* The MVP helps you find your sustainable business model through validated learning. The MVP speeds up your learning process and saves you money (in the long run). MVP’s allow you to act boldly while minimizing risk! Speed: Learn from your customers using the product as soon as possible. Learn. Adapt. (Or die trying.) * AKA patrons, buyers, users….
- 9. “Some believe it’sanything you can learn from… [vs.] Others believe it’s a scaled down product that works just enough to get customers to pay.”* Key: Validated learning and rapid experimentation are fundamental common denominators. * Jaime Levy, author of UX Strategy, in conversation. See: www.jaimelevy.com “The term has become bastardized. MVP has two definitions these days…”
- 10. MVP Examples Scholcomm: figshare ProSumer:Dropbox Consumer: Zappos
- 11. Dropbox “Concierge” MVP No prototype,no functionality. A representation of the style and value of the service without investing in technology or backend resources. The 2008 Dropbox MVP fake-screencast simulation video by CEO Drew Houston released helped launch the “explainer video” revolution. It also generated massive conversion -- over 75,000 signups for a product that had not yet been built. See the original simulation MVP here: https://youtu.be/7QmCUDHpNzE Note: when researching, it is easy to mistakenly find the 2009 explainer; much unneeded energy is spent debating about this due confusion on this topic.
- 12. figshare Piecemeal MVP “An MVPmodel in which the product is made by using existing tools and solutions instead of building a custom solution.” figshare’s 2011 alpha & beta was a mashup of a Wordpress front end and a Mediawiki backend (the Wikipedia software)* • Mark Hahnel Phill Jones • The Difference Between a MVP and a Prototype. Andrej Gajdos. https://andrejgajdos.com/the-difference-between-an-minimum-viable-product-mvp-and-a-prototype/
- 13. Zappos “Wizard” MVP “In aWizard of Oz test, customers believe they are interacting with the actual product, but behind the scenes human beings are doing the work.” – Ries * The Zappos MVP was an honorable ruse. Similar to the Mechanical Turk (a fake chess-playing machine circa late 18th century), the site was built with minimal coding; there was no true back-end fulfillment infrastructure. Benefit: multiple hypotheses tested simultaneously + direct customer contact * The Lean Startup. Ries. P. 104 Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turk
- 14. Context Matters: Startup vs. Corporate Startup or InnovationHub: The purpose of a startup (or innovation hub) is to find a sustainable business model. No single North Star. Instead, set goals that help you on each pivot. (MVPs can help!) Established Company: The purpose of the established company is to ensure the ongoing relevance of its business model and to adapt continuously in order to ensure continuous growth and revenue. North Star-driven; usually more fixed long-term targets…but you can help change that! (MVPs can help!) *The books portrayed above are my top-pick desert island reads relative to each relevant environment.
- 15. An MVP is……hard to do …a test of a hypothesis …an experiment …a learning exercise …a creative exercise …a tool to establish product market fit It could include: A minimum feature set (“Piecemeal”) Working code A fake (“Wizard”) A video (”Concierge”) Whatever is necessary to fit the criteria: minimum and viable
- 16. An MVP is not… …easyto do …a “special” or “gold plating” …something produced to satisfy an executive mandate to release a “minimum” set of features by a specific date, with a specific set of arbitrary KPIs, OKRs, etc. derived by the Strategy Group, the Analytics Department, the creative director or anyone who isn’t in direct contact with customers (and that had better be YOU) …a “special” …graded as simply a success or failure …an excuse to deliver crap
- 17. End Part 1Q&A
- 18. Recap MVP is anexperiment performed to collect the maximum amount of validated learning from customers with minimal effort It’s all about getting your experiment into the hands (or bodies) of customers Both startups and existing companies/organization need the same thing: ongoing, consistent, rapid validated learning. “It is not necessarily the smallest product imaginable, though; it is the fastest way to start learning how to build a sustainable business with the minimum amount of effort.” - Ries * How DropBox Started As A Minimal Viable Product. Ries. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/19/dropbox-minimal-viable-product/
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- 20. If you don’tunderstand your customer, you don’t understand your business. If you don’t understand your business, you’re in deep sh**. Anonymous
- 21. Tip: Use aCanvas https://leanstack.com/ • Problem • Solution • Key Metrics • Unique Value Prop • Unfair Advantage • Channels • Customer Segments • Cost Structure • Revenue Streams • Key partners • Key activities • Key resources • Value Proposition • Customer Relationship • Channels • Customer Segments • Cost Structure • Revenue/funding Streams
- 22. Tip: Business Model Canvas •Key partners • Key activities • Key resources • Value Proposition • Customer Relationship • Channels • Customer Segments • Cost Structure • Revenue/funding Streams*
- 23. • Customer Segments •Problem • Revenue Streams • Solution • Unique Value Proposition • Channels • Key Metrics • Cost Structure https://leanstack.com/ Tip: The Lean Canvas
- 24. Identify the customer and definethe problem Do you know who your customer is? What are their pain points? What could you do to relieve that pain? Your MVP should help you on your way to product/market fit Engage your team. “When a great team meets a lousy market, market wins. When a lousy team meets a great market, market wins. When a great team meets a great market, something special happens.” Andy Rachleff Venture Capitalist Rachleff quote from Tren Griffin’s blog 25iq. https://25iq.com/2017/02/17/a-dozen-lessons-about-productmarket-fit/
- 25. Screenshot: Strategyzer ValueProposition Canvas: strategyzer.com Illustrations: Value Proposition Design Tip: Use the Value Proposition Canvas to identify & define customer pain points and pain relievers (your MVP) Can’t parse OA from payOA facet LIS, A&I or CRIS Researcher OA facet w/ full-text Time saved!
- 26. A hypothesis isa leap of faith (LOAF) but it is investigated, tested and evaluated using facts and the scientific method. By prioritizing your hypotheses, you will see which ones will return the most value when tested. Chart from: MVP Analysis Case Study and Workbook. Ries. See: www.thestartupway.com
- 27. MVP Process • Research • Hypothesis •Plan • Design • Execute • Feedback • Iterate Build Measure Learn
- 28. 1) Build asimple version of your product idea 1) Prototype 2) Smoke Test 2) Put it in front of real customers (the market) 1) Collect feedback 2) Measure interest 3) Learn 1) 5 whys 2) Iterate, pivot – or kill Build MeasureLearn Build, measure, learn, build, measure, learn, build, measure, learn…quickly. Execution: Build, Measure, Learn* * Also referred to as “Test, experiment and learn”
- 29. Learn MeasureBuild Planning works inreverse: You must figure out what you need to learn before you can figure out what to measure and what you need to build to satisfy those needs. Planning: Learn, Measure, Build
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- 31. End Part 2Q&A
- 32. Recap: Build, measure, learn Planningand documentation are essential in agile and lean product development Context is everything: Startups: MVPs inform business models Existing products/companies/services: MVPs inform growth, evolution
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- 34. Understand your customer Push Pull Inertia Friction Global Pandemic leadsto lower enrollment, budget cuts, etc. Argue and negotiate Expectation of status quo; assumed enrollment dips would be manageable because of statistical forecasts performed by the Strategy group. Fear of layoffs, job losses and crashing enrollment. Couldn’t find their institution’s authors, papers. Couldn’t find links to OA text Save the business. Bring customers joy and comfort Extended payment plan; great APR Developed preprint validation engine and agreed to reduce fees 25% No. Board of Directors refused and expects customer to sell blood to pay for old product Negotiate with Sci-Hub. Meeting with Alexandra Elbakyan on Zoom tomorrow. Source: www.leanstack.com
- 35. Vet your assumptions • EXAMPLEASSUMPTIONS FOR AN A&I PRODUCT: • Researchers care about whether or not an article is labeled open access when that is the case • Researchers will return to the site more frequently if they think the product is sympathetic to OA content and provides links to freely available OA content • Researchers want access to data sets associated with article level content • This will be easy and cheap to do
- 36. Design and document the experiment (yourMVP) • What is your hypothesis? • What will you learn from testing it? • How will you measure the outcome? • What is the minimum feature/product you can build in order to test and learn?
- 37. Design an Experiment: Documentassumptions + Articulate future condition Chart from: MVP Analysis Case Study and Workbook. Ries. See: www.thestartupway.com
- 38. Learn, Report, Analyze,Decide Chart from: MVP Analysis Case Study and Workbook. Ries. See: www.thestartupway.com Experiment Report Source: www.leanstack.com
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- 40. Continuous Learning isthe Key
- 41. Establish a network.Get a mentor. Be a mentor.
- 42. End Part 3 Thankyou. Q&A
- 43. Thank you! Eric Swenson Swensonia Consulting| New York e.Swenson@Swensonia.com | @eswensonia https://www.linkedin.com/in/swensonia/